Journalist laments ‘dirty war’ that wreaked havoc on KP

The last day of the 16th Aalmi Urdu Conference also hosted the launch of journalist Saleem Safi’s book ‘Dirty War’.

Speaking about choosing the title of ‘dirty’ for his book, Safi said Pakistan played a double game with the US in the war in Afghanistan, which affected Pakistan as well, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that earlier, the US and Pakistani establishment together created the Taliban culture, and they later joined hands to fight the same culture. 

The journalist said Pakistan created Mujahideen to support Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and then used the same to fight against Hekmatyar. He said that before the recent takeover of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan was an ally of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and the US. After the resurgence of Taliban, he said, Pakistan switched sides.

He said he consulted many of his colleagues to discuss the title but could not find a better word than ‘dirty’. The war affected the Afghan and Pakhtun literature and poetry profoundly, as many of the hit songs from the region included suicide bombing and drone attack in their verses, Safi said.

He added that in the Pakhtun culture, it was taken a serious offence if someone did not attend an acquaintance or friend’s events of joy and grief. However, in the deteriorating situation, if someone was killed in a terrorist attack, the bereaved family would themselves advise their well-wishers to not attend the funeral as there could be another attack in it.